


Come Round and Round Back to Me

by aruhime



Category: VICTON (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magical Realism, kind of, word vomit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:15:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26819416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aruhime/pseuds/aruhime
Summary: "You two are fated together," Sejun explained slowly. "No matter how you deny it, it's just happen to be like that. You'll always coming back to him.""But what if I don't want that?"Sejun shot him a surprised (and low-key disappointed) look. "You don't want to be with Seungsik-hyung?"Chan looked away.—or, Seungsik and Chan were soulmates, but Chan kept running away from that fact because he thought he wasn't a perfect companion for Seungsik's life. He already attempted to leave Seungsik a lot of times. In the end, though, he found himself kept coming back to Seungsik's side, no matter how far he had gone.
Relationships: Heo Chan/Kang Seungsik
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	Come Round and Round Back to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! This fic only serves as a tool for me to feel like I've written something /crying/ so this is pretty much a plotless (and pointless, I might add) word-vomit fic, because I feel like writing soulmate au and a dash of magical realism. If it feels confusing, I'm sorry.
> 
> This is unbeta-ed as usual. The title (and the last dialogue speech) is from Seventeen's Pinwheel.

If anything, Chan refused to acknowledge that he slowly fell in love with his best friend, Seungsik. It wasn't like he hated Seungsik—truthfully, he didn't dislike the idea of falling in love with him. After all, it was only natural that he would grow to love his soulmate eventually. Soulmates who dislike each other weren't unheard of, but it was rare. Chan thought he was one of them, considering his constant bickering with Seungsik, but it turned out to be the opposite.

Well, in short, Chan didn't oppose himself being swooned over Seungsik's smile. It was just the constant teasing from his friends. Sejun had been giggling whenever he saw Chan and Seungsik together, even for the most harmless thing, like doing their homework together. And, also, Byungchan had been sighing to himself, too. There was a hint of fondness somewhere in there, and Chan knew he was talking to himself in low voice, " _What an oblivious couple_."

(Sejun claimed he could see their red strings of fate tied up on each other's wrist, and Byungchan affirmed it with "It's true. My head says Sejun's right, and my head is always right." He'd high-fiving Sejun after that, and Chan wasn't entirely convinced.)

But, somehow, Chan knew that Sejun was right. It was the slight tug that gave it away—whenever Seungsik was around, Chan gravitated towards him very easily. Somehow, he could breathe better around Seungsik; his chest was strangely content, everything seemed fine and would always be fine, even when Chan didn't do his faerie history homework. It was the way Chan could see literal sparkles around Seungsik's eyes whenever he smiled—tiny sparks, like a mini firework, but it was only him who could see that. It was how Seungsik's hand always felt warm around Chan's, even when it was winter. It was—well, it was just Seungsik's existence in general, honestly.

The thing was, Chan didn't know if he was worth it. Yes, perhaps he had fallen in love, and that Seungsik was his soulmate, but what if Seungsik didn't want _him_?

"We're leaving," Seungsik said, the said warm hand found themselves wrapping around Chan's cheek. "Why are you so distracted today?"

"I'm okay, really. Got your books?"

Seungsik waved his small pouch. "Everything's here. I got three books and a discount."

"Great!" Chan said enthusiastically. "C'mon let's go back, then?"

Seungsik nodded. They exited the bookshop hand in hand. It was exam week, and the hunting for the perfect potion handbook was on fire. Seungsik found this bookshop on a twitter thread yesterday. It was only a couple of block away from their dormitory; he thought he wouldn't be too bummed out if he didn't find the handbook he wanted.

Chan hummed a meaningless tone all the way back to their shared room. He didn't realize Seungsik was looking at him with a strange gaze, wondering.

"It's that song again," Seungsik said, squeezing Chan's hand. "Are you okay? Do we need to go searching for good-luck charms again?"

"What?"

Seungsik laughed at Chan's puzzled expression. "That song. The one you always unconsciously hummed whenever you got a C."

"You noticed?"

Seungsik replied with his eyebrows raised. Chan coughed.

"It's nothing," he lied. He hoped Seungsik's aura reading was not on the best condition today. "It's just the usual. Exam week, you know? If I messed up the measurement for potion class one more time, I swear—"

"Really?"

Chan nodded, he was a pretty good actor. "Really."

"Well, if you said so," Seungsik shrugged. "You've been so weird lately."

Chan mentally cringed. He just came back from his latest running-away period, and, much to his anxiousness, Seungsik hadn't actually confront him about that. This time, it was when they got two weeks off prior to the exam week, and Chan used that to escape to his aunt's house up in the city. He didn't tell Seungsik about it, heck, he didn't even tell anyone.

That morning, he was already on the train when Seungsik woke up with an empty bed beside his. For a lot of reason (that he was actually aware of), Chan felt a pang on his heart when he thought about that until today.

Eight days after that, Seungsik was on the train station, welcoming him with his usual wide grin and hot coffee. He didn't say anything when Chan crushed him with a hug, eyes tearing up.

"How did you know?"

Seungsik had shrugged. "Just a hunch."

It was hard—not falling in love with Seungsik, that was. Especially after those welcoming smile, every time, _every time_ Chan returned to their shared room with a bleak expression—or, after the comforting hugs, with soothing whispers that shot right into Chan's tiny, sad heart.

Once, long before he started running away from Seungsik, Chan had nagged to Sejun about all this soulmate stuff. It sounded crazy in his head. He didn't share the same excitement with Sejun's crinkled eyes.

"It's great, you know, soulmate," Sejun hugged his pillow. "Knowing that there's someone for you, a perfect match, and you don't even have to guess it. They're just there, waiting."

Chan sighed. He kinda wished he didn't come to Sejun. "Then, what's the—what is it—the symptoms?"

"It's not a disease—"

"Fine, the signals."

"The signals that you are someone's soulmate?" Sejun frowned, trying to remember things from his scrying class. "Wait, I don't remember those. I have it on notes, somewhere—"

While waiting for Sejun rummaging his bag, Chan threw himself on the bed, drowning in the comfortable feelings of his fluffy blanket and plushies. Chan wondered why Sejun collected a lot of plushies these days.

"Ok, here it is!" Sejun came back with a lousy binder. "Let's see. 'One, when you first touch your soulmate, you will sense a tingling sensation.' Ooh, fancy."

"What if they were on an accident? Tingly feelings everywhere? Because your legs are broken?"

Sejun pretended to not hear him. "'Two, you will feel at ease around your soulmate. That includes the side effects, such as minor uneasiness if you are separated from your soulmate for a certain period of times.' Hmm, interesting."

"What if they haven't met yet?"

"Then, it won't happen," Sejun said. "You need to 'activate' your soulmate connection first. That's why there are people who are overly excited when they shake hands with a stranger, Chan-hyung. Their soulmate can be anyone, anywhere."

Surprised at the sudden serious tone, Chan didn't retort Sejun's sentence with his silly commentary. He gestured for Sejun to go on.

"Three, if your soulmate dies, you don't die with them, but there wouldn't be another soulmate born for you. Unless your soulmate enters the reincarnation wheel, but that kind of case is rare."

"Uh, that's kinda cruel."

Sejun sighed. "All this soulmate things—it doesn't mean you can't live with someone who isn't your soulmate, hyung."

"Okay, go on."

"That's it." Sejun closed his notebook. Chan's eyes widened.

"That's it?" He snickered. "So much for an ancient, sacred link—it only has three rules. Brilliant."

"It's the main three principals, hyung. There's a handbook about soulmates in the library! It has 300 pages inside, did you expect me to read all those?"

Much to Sejun's amusement, Chan did borrow the book, but it sat on his working table for a full two weeks before he returned it, the pages untouched. He was pretty much guessed the gist of this soulmate system after Sejun's explanation—it wasn't exactly a forbidden topic, he had heard it everywhere since he was a little. (Besides, the book was all the academical stuff—articles, previous researches, those boring things.)

He didn't read the book, and thus it marked the first time he made up his mind to ran away. For science, he reasoned with his head. Not that he needed to.

"Chan?"

Seungsik's voice shook him out of his thought. Chan met Seungsik's eyes, full with genuine concern. His usual playful grin wasn't there; it seemed like Chan had spaced out way too long.

Suddenly, Chan felt tired.

"Ssik-ah, say," he started, ignoring the creases on Seungsik's forehead. "Hypothetically, if you finally meet your soulmate, but he was way out of your league, like, far, far below you."

"Mhm."

"Hypothetically," Chan reminded him again. "Hypothetically, what would you do?"

"Is this the reason why you suddenly taking a long trips out of nowhere?"

"What, no, what do you mean?" Chan's hand tensed in Seungsik's grasp. "It's just my friend in scrying class, ok."

Seungsik laughed. "Well, then, hypothetically, I will accept my soulmate as they are. I believe there's something from the cosmic that bind us together, you know? Some kind of purpose, thing like that."

"But, what if—"

"I don't need a theoretically perfect companion, Chanie. I just need the one who is good for me, and _you_ are good for me." Seungsik tightened his hand around Chan's. "We complete each other. We're here."

As expected, the walk back to their dormitory was even quicker. Seungsik turned the doorknob, walking in, still hand in hand, as if it was the most natural thing. Well, it was. At least, it was what Chan's heart felt.

"Seungsik, I'm tired."

"Mhm."

Once they were inside, Seungsik pulled Chan into a bone-crushing embrace. They stayed like that for a few moments. The scent of herbs that Seungsik hung around the room welcomed them, wrapping their sweet smell around them. Momentarily, Chan was distracted.

"Was it always this sweet? The herb stash?"

Seungsik laughed softly, "It is. Welcome home?"

Chan nodded, pressing his cheeks on Seungsik's chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart. It slowly guided Chan's own heartbeat, calming him and making him at ease. Chan really, really appreciate the way his body unknotted himself.

"See?" Seungsik must had felt it too, because he pulled himself off of Chan, but the warm lingered. "It's good for me as it is good for you, too. We come in a single package that said 'do not separate'."

"Really, Seungsik?" Chan stiffled a laugh. "What if—"

"Chan."

"No, it's the last one, I swear." Chan put his forehead to Seungsik's chest again. His voice muffled. "What if I feel like running away, again?"

Seungsik hugged him again, swaying their body slowly. "I believe you will come back to me again, Chanie. No matter how far ahead it is in the future."

**Author's Note:**

> come and yell at me at my [cc](https://curiouscat.me/aruhxme) and [twitter!](https://twitter.com/chaniiro)


End file.
